School of Music director: Decision to fire Jon Waters was ‘done without my knowledge’

Former OSU Marching Band director Jonathan Waters said he wants OSU to give him a chance to clear his name after being fired July 24. Credit: Aaron Yerian / Lantern TV Asst. sports director

Lawyers for former Ohio State marching band director Jon Waters submitted a letter as evidence from the director of the School of Music, Richard Blatti, in which he said he was unaware of the decision to fire Waters.

In addition, the lawyers filed a memorandum on Wednesday asking for the court to allow evidence concerning the Board of Trustees in Waters’ lawsuit against the university.

In the letter, which was addressed to Waters’ parents and written in September 2014 — two months after Waters was fired — Blatti criticized the decision to fire Waters.

“The shocking decisions made in July were done without my knowledge, or even my input, without valuing or even reading my most recent evaluations of Jon’s work, and most disappointing, without any other information than a report we all know now is filled with error, omission, even rumors,” Blatti wrote. “To say I am appalled is a gross understatement and does not describe my feelings of frustration, helplessness, and anger.”

The memorandum, filed by Waters’ attorney David Axelrod, argued that the court should allow an expanded scope of discovery for the case, which would “explicitly include decisions made by the Board of Trustees, and communications by and to members of the Board of Trustees concerning the termination of Mr. Waters’ employment,” the memo said.

Additionally, the memo asked for the period of discovery to be expanded by two months, which would provide more time for Waters’ lawyers to “allow reasonable discovery.” The original deadline was set for Sept. 1.

The memo asked for the period of discovery to be extended for an additional two months, through Nov. 1.

The letter from Blatti was handwritten on three sheets of paper and mailed to Waters’ parents, and in it the director said he felt as if his “actions and words have been heavily scrutinized” and added that his laptop had been “removed from (his) office and its contents studied.”

Blatti’s letter was accompanied by a legal declaration by John B. Waters, Jon Waters’ father, which stated that John Waters knew Blatti since his son was a graduate assistant. The declaration also said John Waters received the letter, and although he had not discussed it with Blatti himself, his son has discussed it and Blatti acknowledged having written it.

In the letter, Blatti wrote that he still considered Jon Waters his student, and reminisced about having him as a freshman in symphonic band, “a talented, motivated, and amiable kid eager to begin his musical career.”

He continued to write about his frustration with the Board of Trustees and the university in general.

“My attempts to access the ‘Powers to Be’ have been unsuccessful and, despite my own threat to resign over the way this has been handled, I have been summarily ignored,” Blatti wrote. “It’s as if the Board answers to no one and the days of faculty governance are all in the past.”

Blatti concluded his letter with an apology to the Waters family, as well as a promise to continue to support Jon Waters.

“All I can offer is my most profound apologies for a university being led astray right now,” Blatti wrote. “In the meantime, please know that I will do all I can to see Jon employed again, and even if it is not here at the university he once loved, I know he will find his stride and once again establish himself as the successful leader we all know him to be.”

On April 24, a federal judge decided to hear part of Jon Waters’ case against the university.

U.S. District Court Judge James Graham ruled that Jon Waters has a legal basis to sue OSU for “reverse sexual discrimination,” but threw out other complaints, which included Jon Waters’ assertion that OSU did not give him due process when he was fired.

In an emailed statement, the university said it does not see the letter as a piece of evidence that will support Waters’ gender discrimination argument.

“The only remaining claim in Mr. Waters’ lawsuit is that he was terminated because he is a man. While the letter from Dr. Blatti attached to Mr. Waters’ court filing today regarding discovery may be interesting to some, the letter says nothing about Mr. Waters’ gender or any sexual discrimination against Mr. Waters,” the statement said. “As such, it is irrelevant to the sole remaining issue of gender discrimination. Instead, Dr. Blatti’s letter only shows that he was a family friend of Mr. Waters and was reaching out to the Waters family as a friend.”

In a separate emailed statement sent by the university, Blatti said he intended his note to be one of support as a friend of the family.

“Jon Waters was my music student and I have known his family for many years. Because of that relationship, I wrote that letter in an attempt to console his parents and to offer my help to Mr. Waters in finding a job elsewhere,” Blatti said in the statement. “I never expected my personal letter would be used by Mr. Waters in this manner, and since writing that letter I have more understanding of the reasoning behind the University’s decision and the process behind it.”

Waters has sued for a minimum of $1 million in compensatory damages, in addition to seeking punitive damages, attorney fees and reinstatement.

Jon Waters was fired July 24 after a two-month long investigation by the university found that the marching band had a “sexualized culture.”

Editor’s note: This article was updated May 6 with statements from Ohio State and Richard Blatti.

41 comments

It seems to be the case that the trustees have firmly decided that no one from within will be named as director. It is also apparent that it will be extremely difficult to hire a capable replacement from outside. Meanwhile, Dr. Drake appears to be reluctant to leave his office and show his face on campus and fund raising is dropping off. I suggest that the Lantern seek to get each of the trustees to comment on the record on just what in the name of Hayes the trustees think they are doing. Clearly, whatever it is, it is not working.

An interesting change in tone from Dr. Blatti between the letter and his most recent comment. His comments in the letter just add more data to support the thesis that an unaccountable cabal currently runs Ohio State. If you donate money to this group, I have no words for your blind loyalty to a corrupt organization.

Having a laptop taken and examined? Wow. Disloyalty would be punished, I presume. The Incorporation is virtually complete.

This letter proves the judge made a corrupt decision not to allow Waters a jury trial on denial of due process. Fraud in a court nullifies court decisions. The fact that Blatti, Waters’ boss, was overridden, proves that the trustees had no intention of honoring Waters’ due process rights. Has anybody noticed that the magistrate judge is an OSU employee? This means he is not an impartial judge. It does not avoid the appearance of impropriety. This fact also invalidates the decision not to allow Waters’ denial of due process claim. Remarkably, the magistrate works for the OSU Moritz School of Law and should know his ethical duties. More shameful corruption radiating from lawyers who blemish the good name of our beloved university.

The universities continued argument that what they have done is completely legal discusts me. How about doing what is moral, ethical, and right!?!? Firing someone based on the glaros report shocks the conscious of myself and anyone close to the situation. Finally, if Blatti as head of the music department was in charge of evaluating Jon, this letter was not just written as a friend but as a supervisor who watched an employee fired on unjust grounds without even being consulted about it!

One needs to look back farther than Drake to see when this started- Elwood and Joe started this whole process with directives from the Board of Trustees. It is a complete corporate environment and has been for a long time. The number of people on the Board was increased under Gee; the number of Vice Provosts and Vice-Presidents and administrative support has dramatically increased since Gee was recruited by Les Wexner and flown back here for his interview on the Limited’s private jet for his so-called re-coronation When you look at what OSU fundraising was honestly compared to UM, UW-Madison, Miinnesota, Northwestern -just in the Big Ten- factoring in the number of alumni we have -it was mid-range under Gee- not the stellar record the Dispatch and downtown Columbus corporate cabal would lead you to believe. Combine that with the handling of the Chatas affair, the conflict interest have been present for years and years and years……
Those of us who love the University have been very concerned for a very long time. I wish that something could be done-it is now systemic and no one has the cajones to dig deep enough for the incredible amount of duplicity and underhandedness that is undermining the old fashioned notion of education being the mission of the University.

What has been morally and ethically wrong is the hostile-environment-sub-culture within the marching band to have persisted for so long. One that Mr. Waters admitted was present, expressed a dire need for change, and one that he admitted he could not change quickly when asked on the Today Show, because he said the culture was entrenched. This should have all come out when Dr. Woods was in charge, and he should have taken the fall, but it didn’t, and Mr. Waters was at the helm when it did.

Mr. Waters sued with 3 arguments of due process, all of which were dismissed.

Some band alumni continue to say the Glaros report contains falsities. However, notice that Mr. Waters’ legal team did not sue based on any libel or slander, arguing the details of the Glaros report were incorrect. Those things in the report did happen. They were present. They resulted in the entrenched culture Mr. Waters referred to. They were the reason several of us chose not to associate with the marching band, because when you do, you risk something like this fallout happening. It was the culture that produced a “Most Inspirational Bandsperson” that possessed such a lack of personal integrity that he, now as a STAFF member, went out drinking with an underage student. A horrible judgement call at best (and at worst committed rape) even after ALL this has been exposed for a year. If you want to claim the report is wrong, sue on those grounds. But even Mr. Waters legal team evidently feels that a reverse gender discrimination case (viewed by most the weakest of their arguments) has more chance than arguing the validity of the contents of the report.

The severity of the situation supersedes any music performance and administrative evaluation, and the University has discretion to include Dr. Blatti in the decision or not.

I see Mr. Glaros is up late tonight posting nonsense. SeekTU forgets that the Montgomery report did not condemn the band. Rather the survey contained in the report indicated that campus and Columbus were 20x more harassing than band membership.

“The task force accused the TBDBITL Alumni Club of trying to influence the investigation by telling current and former band members how to respond in task force interviews and to an online survey.”

“The aggressive defense of this band ignores the reality of behaviors often exhibited by young college students and in so doing, prevents modeling appropriate behavior and disciplining inappropriate behavior,” the report stated.

“While it may gain the loyalty of Band members, it ignores the responsibility that the band director has to students, the band, and to the university.”

“In addition to the sexually explicit nicknames and bus games revealed in the first OSU band culture report, the task force uncovered more troubling behavior.”

“In one video, various foods and booze were mixed in a blender and row members were forced to drink the concoction, according to the report, causing some to gag, spit and vomit in the video. In another, male row members played a game called “gay chicken,” where they leaned in to kiss one another and lost if they “chickened out.”

Waters appeared in several of the videos, including one where students used a Shake Weight to simulate masturbation.”

“Widespread alcohol abuse was also documented in the report. Two of the three incidents of sexual assault reviewed by the task force occurred while band members were intoxicated to the point of blacking out. And three of the four locations where the band held its formal dance banned the group due to property damage”

“Montgomery said some members displayed “very clear uncomfortableness” with the activities and behavior, while many others saw the hazing as “the price of admission” to the band.

“Sometimes the students are thinking, I think, that they can behave outrageously for the four or five years they’re on the band because then they’re going to be grownups. They’re already grownups,” Montgomery said. “I know they weren’t well trained about what the expectations for their behavior were.”

Good to see that SeekTU_Buckeye is still out there to cherry pick the Glaros and Montgomery Reports on behalf of the University. What would they do without him/her? The fact remains that one more piece of this disgusting episode has now unravelled, and the finger points even more directly right at Bricker Hall and the Trustees. People to whom the Band, its members, its alumni, and its thousands upon thousands of supporters and fans count for nothing. Just another brick in the wall to be used however they will, to suit whatever purpose they want. In this case, covering up their own negligence in taking proper care of the students under their charge. The issue of whether or not Waters gets a large settlement from OSU is now almost irrelevant. The fact remains that these people, by their callousness and ignorance, have wreaked immeasurable damage on the University, and it will be years, if ever, before this can be mended.

While there are outrageous things that occur in college, almost all of those things occur outside the purview of course instructors. Why should an instructor be held accountable for the personal behavior of their students when the behavior occurs outside of class?

Waters’ knowledge of an outrageous SUB culture doesn’t mean he has a viable means to prevent it. In most cases, his knowledge of it didn’t come while witnessing it as the director and hence, his options are limited. Yet, he worked to change it ANYWAY.

People say, “why didn’t Waters suspend these kids?”

It’s because he didn’t have the time or the resources to investigate this kind of stuff and hence he can only act on that which he sees or which is reported to him. From all we know, he did that. Most of what you’ve mentioned occurred beyond Waters’ line of site. The rest is harmless college fun, often taken out of context. This mock-outrage over college antics is nothing more than self-righteous hypocrisy.

Regarding THIS particular article. We can clearly see that the faculty do not run this university. Educators do not run this university. The board of trustees are involving themselves and making decisions on issues they shouldn’t, because they don’t know the facts. They don’t know the truth and their motives are less than transparent.

“The aggressive defense of this band ignores the reality of behaviors often exhibited by young college students and in so doing, prevents modeling appropriate behavior and disciplining inappropriate behavior,” the report stated.

“While it may gain the loyalty of Band members, it ignores the responsibility that the band director has to students, the band, and to the university.” – Montgomery Report

You stated, “However, notice that Mr. Waters’ legal team did not sue based on any libel or slander, arguing the details of the Glaros report were incorrect. Those things in the report did happen.”

I’m sure with your legal background you obviously chose not to disclose your expert legal knowledge of how Federal vs. State lawsuits work. If you file a libel/slander/defamation suit against the University it would have to be done in State Court. Thus, making it impossible then to later sue in Federal Court. But, if you sue in Federal Court first, one still reserves the right to sue in State Court.

There is a process to everything when it involves the law. I’m sure that his legal team has completely thought through strategy when it comes to court filings. But again, I’m probably not telling you anything you didn’t already know.

Every time new details come out, it more and more paints a picture of an abysmal job done by the OSU Administration and of Jon Waters get screwed beyond belief. In my 20 years being a Buckeye, this is one of the most shameful situations I’ve seen. I think at this point Drake needs to go and probably some board members too, unless they swallow their pride and re-hire Jon Waters, doing the right thing for ONCE in this situation. It is so transparent that Jon Waters was offered up as a Title IX sacrificial lamb to make up for other shortcomings within the university.
There is no chance that I send even $1 OSU’s way until this situation is resolved or at the very least, Drake is gone.

SeekTU is right on! Waters is a narcissist who will stop at nothing to get his way. If only he could see the error of his ways,. Using a personal letter for personal gain is pretty low. Blatti has since changed his tune after he gained all the facts involved. Waters worked very hard to keep the band away from the eye of the School of Music, the Athletic department and the University so that he could operate as he saw fit (this behavior goes back to Woods and Droste). In the real world when you lack accountability and things go wrong on your watch (as the Montgomery report and the Glarus report clearly defined) you lose your job.

SPM’s grasp of the facts is simply absurd. After many years of the SoM being kept at arms length from the Band, Waters went out of his way to build bridges with it. Anyone who went toSkull Sessions (which SPM clearly never did) would have seen Blatti, Mikkelson, and others invited to conduct the Band, and be part of the celebration. This extended to conducting on the field. Blatti’s performance reviews of Waters also praise his efforts in this regard. In the “real world”, you can only be accountable for what you know about. As the Montgomery Report makes clear, the University’s complete lack of guidance and support for a group twice the size of the football team, created the situation that allowed OSU to blame Waters for anything they chose, given their desperation to appease the Department of Education. How very convenient.

As the World Turns! That is As The World According To TBDBITL Alum turns. Many do not agree with you. So sad that you have to personally attack anyone who does not hold the same belief as you. Instead of holding on to a flawed system, one would think that a “band parent” would want to see a healthier environment for their college student and with the band experience. Change can be a very positive thing. Time and change…

At some point, I am praying that Drake and the Board suck it up and rehire Mr. Waters. But no, they are (mostly) MEN who would never admit that an action they took might have been WRONG.

I loved tOSU marching band. Lo, I was not in the band because WOMEN were not allowed when I was a student. Of course, that was before any kind of equal opportunity laws were in place.

While I know the disappointing management team now in place at tOSU will never hire Jon back, I hope he wins his lawsuit as he was clearly wrongly dismissed from his position. And as for Blatti who is now backing off from the honest and truthful letter that he wrote to Waters’ parents (what? is he afraid for his job? #SMH), what’s up with that? Has be been threatened?

Just speaking the truth SPM. Which is the real Professor Blatti? The one that wrote the handwritten letter or the one that released a message though the university recanting much of his handwritten letter?

Neither of us can speak for Blatti. Perhaps too many of you are too “entrenched” to understand. As hard as the bandmembers work and as much time and effort as they put into being part of the band, wouldn’t you like to see it be a better environment TBDBITL parent?

SPM. Every organization could use improvement so please don’t try to distract me from my original statement. You have been trained well to divert arguments in other directions. I believe Professor Blatti has the best interest of Jon and the university at heart. It is just a shame that he has been stifled.

SPM – It seems clear that you have not experienced the “environment” in the Band. As a Band parent, I can tell you that the friendships and support these kids give one another is second to none. And I don’t mean in terms of silly student capers that you can find anywhere on campus, I mean in terms of standing up for one another, coming to the aid of a Band member struck with illness or misfortune, and getting others to achieve things that they never believed they were capable of. Demanding excellence of yourself is hard, and you need the encouragement of those around you to do it. Rather than cavil about some misguided perception of the Band “culture”, go to a few Summer Sessions and see what it means to truly dedicate yourself to a cause . The reality is completely opposite to the Univeristy’s bogus characterisation of this remarkabLe group of young people. It is not the Band’s culture that is in desperate need of improvement – rather it is that of the University’s administration and Trustees.

“chris” pretty much sums up this alum’s opinion.As for Professor Blatti once you say it,you can’t take it back.Of course,making amends for being misled is really weak.Also noticed that Archie Griffin is quitting as alumni president.Maybe Wadsworth,Steinmetz and Drake can put the university first and consider similar action.Leadership requires wisdom and responsibility.Five people in my family have graduated from Ohio State and the handling of this mess hurts.Thanks for your letter “chris”

This case just keeps getting weirder and weirder. There are so many things that are being ignored that it’s unbelievable. Guess who was the first judge assigned to the case? Algenon Marbley, who had to resign from the Board of Trustess b/c of conflicts of interest. He has known ethical problems. Ohio State is not even bothering with trying to hide the fact that this entire case is corrupt. They replaced Algenon with a different OSU judge and Jon Waters’ attorneys don’t complain. WTF?

I really don’t understand what Jon’s attorneys are doing. Are they dropping the ball on purpose? I was very surprised that the judge allowed him to proceed with the case and now that I think about it I know why. It’s not coincidence that the judge is letting him try to prove the hardest point to prove. They are sticking it to Jon and trying to completely bankrupt him by giving him a false sense of hope.

Why didn’t Jon’s attorneys include this letter in the beginning? It’s odd that they would submit it now when they’ve had it all along.

Either Jon’s lawyers are morons or they are railroading him on purpose. Jon was discriminated against but his attorneys have made no mention of the women behind this plot. There’s no way in hell a man spearheaded this sexual culture bullshit. A powerful woman is behind it, either Melinda Church, Andraea Douglass, or Javaunne Adams-Gaston.

Jon’s attorneys should have included these women from the beginning. Ms. Douglass was supposed to help Jon proceed with a cultural assessment of the band to be done by the Sports Conflict Institute, but it appears that she ignored him. WHY? Why hasn’t Jon said anything about this? Jon complained about University Communications spreading a rumor about the band culture and Melinda Church was the head of UC. What is her role in all this? Ms. Adams-Gaston complained that the band didn’t include Student Life enough.

All three of these woman have HUGE egos and had big reasons to see Jon fired.

Please read the caption under a photo before posting it online. There is an “a” that doesn’t need to be there. Proofreading leads to reader confidence; poor proofreading makes the reader think other more material information is not accurate. “Former OSU Marching Band director Jonathan Waters said he wants a OSU to give him a chance to clear his name after being fired July 24”

As a 20 year University employee I assure you what is happening with Jon Waters is the RULE rather than the exception. The publicity is greater because it is TBDBITL.

The working environment and morale is horrible. Over the last several years the BOT has approved the hiring of administrators who only care about themselves and making sure they continue to receive a big salary, bonus and raise every year.

University Advancement is a prime example of the poor environment. Advancement encompasses the Alumni Association, University Communications and University Development. The Sr. VP for Advancement has systematically taken a once thriving organization and proceeded to tear it down. He has declined to promote anyone who was hired under the previous administration regardless of their years of service or success and each week more jobs are abolished or employees are fired. Yet at least 6 new senior level management positions have been created in the last 2 years with salaries in excess of $300K per year plus bonus.

Donations are down and if the public and alumni want change they need to continue to vote with their pocketbook.

What we are reading in the Lantern is just the tip of the Iceberg. A very interesting story would emerge if someone would just dig a little deeper and ask the right questions. By the way, isn’t anyone else the least bit suspicious of Archie Griffin “stepping down”?

As a 20 year University employee I assure you what is happening with Jon Waters is the RULE rather than the exception. The publicity is greater because it is TBDBITL.

The working environment and morale is horrible. Over the last several years the BOT has approved the hiring of administrators who only care about themselves and making sure they continue to receive a big salary, bonus and raise every year.

University Advancement is a prime example of the poor environment. Advancement encompasses the Alumni Association, University Communications and University Development. The Sr. VP for Advancement has systematically taken a once thriving organization and proceeded to tear it down. He has declined to promote anyone who was hired under the previous administration regardless of their years of service or success and each week more jobs are abolished or employees are fired. Yet at least 6 new senior level management positions have been created in the last 2 years with salaries in excess of $300K per year plus bonus.

Donations are down and if the public and alumni want change they need to continue to vote with their pocketbook.

What we are reading in the Lantern is just the tip of the Iceberg. A very interesting story would emerge if someone would just dig a little deeper and ask the right questions. By the way, isn’t anyone else the least bit suspicious of Archie Griffin “stepping down”?

Yep, those days are over… Ken Lee has done nothing but position himself for an administration position, that is of they can ever remove his lips from their hind ends. Tim Gerber is as incompetent as he is oblivious and conciliatory. Tom Wells, himself FROM the Dept of Music was Faculty Chair this past year and couldn’t get his Senators in line to attend anything (no Senate quorum in March?!), so how should we expect him to be able to change policy or have any influence… oh wait, now he’s taken over Steering Chair from Ken… great. Thats gonna go over well, for the administration, that is.

2 folks commenting here are obvious university plants Seektu and Spm if not the same person are at least working for the same person. lol And if you are one of those thinking David Axelrod is stupid you better think again. The release of the letter was a set up by Jon’s attorneys. Drake and co bit on it and claimed it was irrelevant to the fed case which it may be but then they filed in state court today. The OSU statement did not deny Blatti’s claims in the letter just that it’s not relevant. Blatti’s back pedaling statement sounds like a prisoner being held in North Korea. Shut up and read the statement or we fire you too.

Well, there you go. I stand corrected on them not going after slander.

This is too bad for Mr. Waters. I feel sorry for him as he digs himself a deeper hole. If he continues to pursue this, and all the comments are revisited in detail, it will not make him anymore employable when all statements are judged factual.

Mr. Waters has done more to keep this case public, as the driving force denying his own responsibility, than the university has.

“Mr. Waters has done more to keep this case public, as the driving force denying his own responsibility, than the university has” That’s right. You and the University just want it to go away. Now it turns out Channel 4 knew about the slander suit but waited till it was filed to report. President Drake today when asked to comment said he new nothing about it and had not seen anything about it. That means either #1 he was outright lying or #2 his lawyers are not near as smart as you think they are. If they knew it was coming why didn’t they give him a heads up? I got news for ya Seek, It ain’t going away.

“Mr. Waters has done more to keep this case public, as the driving force denying his own responsibility, than the university has”

You have got to be kidding! The way that the university made this national news made JW un-employable on day 1. Since he was an at will employee and could be fired for any reason, all they had to do is release a statement that they are going in a different direction. Would people have been mad, sure but the situation would have gone away in a matter of weeks for $0. The way they released drakes video, songbooks, “reports” for everyone including minors to see and with the DOE coming back 3 months later with THE osu is off of the Feds naughty list even citing the waters situation…it is perfectly clear that this was all a plan. So here we are almost 1 year later, millions spent, no replacement at director, and another report that has gone largely ignored, and donations down by millions. This OSU alumni could not be more disgusted with the sheer arrogance, hypocrisy, and stupidity displayed by Drake, Davey, Glaros, etc.

I,too, am an alumni from OSU . I graduated from the OSU Law School in 1954 and am truly ashamed of the horrific treatment that Jon Walters has received from OSU ! I was considering leaving some monies to OSU , but I will never leave any of my money to such a group as the Board of Trustees. I certainly hope that Walters can salvage his career and his reputation . The HUGE OSU has certainly tried to ruin him!!

I am so disgusted with the treatment that Jon Walters has had to endure from this horrible Ohio State Board of Directors and this creepy new OSU President. My prayers are with Walters and his family. NO MONEY will be left to OSU from this alum.